Gadgets Blog

For those of you who have been enjoying Blu-ray through Netflix, you’re about to see a jump in the price of your membership. Which could be deemed as slightly unfair.  Since you may have a month where you’ve only received DVDs instead of Blu-ray.  There is no guarantee the videos you want are even available in Blu-ray.  At the same time though, Blu-ray does cost more money, so it’s questionable what else could have been done.  It was bound to happen eventually.

For me, Netflix is considered cheap, purely because at a normal video store I tended to pay a lot in late fees.  I have the tendency to procrastinate on occasion when it comes to taking back the movies.  The Blu-ray will end up adding a little over $1 per DVD extra though.  So if you have the unlimited 4 DVD plan it will cost you $5 extra on top of what you already pay.  It may end up being that some people drop their monthly DVD subscription a little.  This change will begin on April 27th and if you don’t want to pay that extra charge, you’ll have to take Blu-ray off of your plan by that date.  You can see more details on the change here.

Source: Geekologie

I’m sure that all of you have heard of Asimo, Honda’s robot that moves with surprising grace. It would appear that Honda Research Institute are working together to make the human mind work together with this artificial body.

Yes, Honda has finally created the world’s first Brain Machine Interface. All a user needs to do is sit with some skull cap interface on, and (electroencephalography) EEG and NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors can detect your thoughts and transmit them into action for Asimo.

I watched Honda’s video of this new science. They really hyped it up by introducing a world where we can open our trunk with a thought, or turn on our heater when it gets too cold. I have a video of it after the jump if you would like to see it for yourself.

So are we looking at an age where we just sit on our duffs with our Brain Interface helmet while our mind-controlled robots cater to our every need? If so, then hopefully the interface will not be as large as the beautyshop hairdryer interface that we see in the picture.

I can’t believe that I am discussing an age of humanity where mind-controlled robots lull us into a state of apathy, and all I am concerned about is the ease of the interface. Should I get into the Matrix now or just wait for the machines to take over?

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The winner of last week’s coolest gadget competition is the World’s Fastest Hard Drive.

The Fusion ioDrive Duo is according to the manufacturer, the fastest SSD solution available today, and from the looks of the specification they might be right.
The ioDrive duo comes with 160GB of storage, for the basic model, with up to 1.28TB for the top model, it has read speeds of 1.5GB per second and write speeds of 1.4GB per second.

Congrats again to Geeky Gadgets.

In second place we have the Scan Toaster: Wear your heart on your toast.

This nifty Scan Toaster will transform your plain piece of bread into an art canvass, and the best thing is, you can still eat it. Once hooked up to your PC via USB, the Scan Toaster will download the design for your piece of toast. It has the ability to download everything from the weather to the latest news headlines. What better way to catch up on the news than by biting into it as you go?

Finally in third place comes the ThumbTack - The iPod Microphone.

ThumbTack is a microphone for the Nano 4G and Touch 2G. Shaped like an ordinary thumbtack, this device plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack and can be used as a voice recorder. Small and unintrusive, this may go well with the anticipated iPhone OS 3.0 mic applications.

Thank you to everybody who voted, submitted, commented or told a friend. The randomly drawn winner of the $50 Amazon vouchers is:

Thyago (Thyago@…), congratulations.

Thanks again everybody and good luck with the next CGOTW contest on Friday.

Want to hear about future contests first? Subscribe to our daily digest via email or RSS.

If you write for a gadget themed blog and wish to be included in next week’s contest check out the CGOTW instructions page.

There’s never a shortage of people preferring their gadgets complicated and with lots of built-in features.  After all, it does make things more convenient, since that’s one less thing you’ll have to deal with.  However, sometimes it’s nice to keep things simple, instead of overloading your gadgets with things that you often never use.  In some cases the added extras aren’t quite as well done when they’re combined with another gadget.  This fan from Elecom is anything but complicated.

Just plug it into your USB port and it’s all powered up.  Of course, that means one more gadget clogging up your USB ports, so you might need to start utilizing a hub if you want to keep this plugged in.  The speed of the fan can be adjusted to what is comfortable for you.  Although you might not get much use out of a fan right now since it’s only early spring.  Soon the days will be getting hotter.  You can pick this up for Â¥1,200 or about $12.

Source: Akihabara

Nintendo made history when it released the motion controlling Wiimote, so why shouldn’t other video game consoles carry a motion controller of their own? I suppose it would look like a cheap imitation if they did, but why shouldn’t a good idea be multiplied?

A company called Performance Designed Products (PDP) say that Gametrak Freedom is a 3D motion controller for the Xbox 360. In fact, it almost looks like PDP has made something almost better than the Wiimote.

The Gametrak Freedom has Ultrasonic 3D position sensing which uses sound to determine exactly where the controller is in the room. This new tech may unlock a whole new genre of gaming as the controllers can “see” one player throw something towards another player in a room, and it can sense when a player moves out of the way. The Xbox stick also uses accelerometers that can determine the angle of the controller.

I would appear that a lot of the buttons from the Xbox 360 have meandered their way to Gametrak Freedom. I’m not sure how this controller syncs with the console, but it is probably like the Wii. I wish I would stop making comparisons, but I can’t stop, really.

The Freedom is planned to be released with a game called Squeeballs. I’ve seen the trailer for this game, and it looks a little…disturbing.

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As someone who likes to work from home, I value my space. Right now, I use a laundry room because I don’t have a spare room, but I’m wondering if my productivity would increase if got my own space apart from the house.

I suppose that this is the vision for the OfficePOD which is designed for, a small space that is designed to shut out the outside world. I’m not certain how soundproofed it is, but it’s probably more able to drown out the background noises than what I usually experience inside the house.

With the glass exterior, it almost looks like you are working outdoors. I suppose that would be okay in the summertime, but it would have to be heated in the wintertime. It is also inconvenient when you need to step out and use the restroom, as you will need to feel the cold.

I’ve heard that the OfficePOD is made of high quality materials, and I hope it can withstand high winds. You had better not leave some papers on the desk, as they might blow away when the door opens.

If you are interesting in acquiring an OfficePOD, it is available to lease for about $7100 from the OfficePOD company.

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I may very well be the only person that gets sentimental over technology, but when it comes to Dell I am.  My very first computer was a Dell and it was a great machine while it lasted.  So it’s still a favorite brand of mine for many reasons (even if I don’t own a Dell anymore).  One being that Dell has always seemed to listen to their customers and now that everyone is crying out for technology with color, Dell has listened once again.  They’re releasing a full line of desktop computers that are brightly colored to match their colorful laptops.

They will be releasing two Inspiron desktop computers and both will be sporting the colors shown here.  Within those computers you’ll be able to choose from a lineup of Intel and AMD CPU’s, up to 750 GB of storage, up to 8GB of RAM, the option of either integrated graphics or ATI discrete graphics cards and finally you can add a Blu-ray drive to the tower.  You’ll be able to choose from Piano Black, Pure White, True Blue, Formula Red, Tangerine Orange, Spring Green, Plum Purple and Promise Pink.  The prices will start at $299.  As of now they’re in China and will be seen worldwide sometime this spring.

Source:  OhGizmo

Manta rays are majestic creatures that roam the earth’s oceans, and chances are you won’t be able to bring one home by any means which leads us to the next best thing - the Remote Controlled Manta Ray.

This is the remote controlled manta ray that glides underwater while you swim or snorkel nearby. Its hydrodynamic body has small holes in its upper body that allow water to displace air as it submerges down to its maximum depth of 8′. You can control it from 6′ away with the remote (which is waterproof down to 3′). Forefinger triggers on the underside of the remote enable independent pitch for each thruster, providing control for steep, powered dives to the bottom of pools and rapid ascents. Thumb toggles on the topside of the remote allow for independent thrust operation of each shrouded propeller, providing the ability to move forward, backward, make left and right turns, barrel rolls, or complete underwater loops–even intricate submerged Immelmann turns. Three LED panels provide a phosphorescent glow as it moves through the water. A rechargeable battery (sold separately) contained in a sealed, waterproof compartment powers the manta for up to 30 minutes (takes four hours to fully charge); the remote requires one 9-volt battery. Four AA batteries (not included) can also power the manta ray. Sturdy PVC, ABS, and stainless steel construction. For freshwater use.

It is interesting to note that while the real manta rays live in the ocean, this remote controlled version will just have to make do with freshwater only, probably due to the materials it was constructed from where salt water could end up being more abrasive than normal. After all, you wouldn’t want something that cost you a handsome $119.95 wear out so fast, do you?

Want to be an assassin but don’t know where to start? Or rather, are you impressed with Bullseye’s aiming skills in the movie Daredevil where he managed to impale a fly with the tip of a syringe at the end of it? You will be able to live out both fantasies with the FlyGun, and in the course of your practice and self-training, you will be able to snag yourself a fair number of kills as well.

Become a hotshot shooter and blast flies out of the sky with the awesome FlyGun! The FlyGun is a cross between a fly swatter and a handheld pistol that stops flies in their tracks with a spring-loaded round target. Just aim and fire â€" flies and mosquitoes don’t stand a chance! Become a hunter in your own home and get rid of pesky flies fast. The plastic target kills rather than squishes dead flies, so there’s no mess to clean up and it’s safe and easy to use. The amazing FlyGun is handy to have around the office and on holiday too.

This could be £3.95 well spent for hours of fun, especially when you live in a fly-prone area. Of course, I still think that there is nothing quite like those electric bug zappers or a nice can of aerosol (sorry, environment!) to do the dirty job.